Build Me Up
by SpellingOutYourName
Summary: Jace is lost after tragedy hits the Lightwood family, and Clary wants to help him. He's very intent on not letting her, and she's very intent on breaking his shell. AU/AH OOC. Rated M for limes, lemonadae, MAYBE lemons.


**Hmm. Okay. I've been writing down idea after idea after idea for the past week and a half. And I think I finally found a good plot.**

**Okay. Here we go.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone, blah blah blah. You understand.**

Two Years Prior

_The door to Taki's opened, the bell dinging as to alert the staff members of the incoming customer. The tall blonde man made his way to a booth in the back corner, obscured from anyone who wanted to bother him._

_He grabbed the stiff menu off the table and flipped through it, not really finding anything that would satisfy his needs at that moment. He knew he wouldn't eat anything; his stomach wasn't set to digest food._

_With a sigh, the golden man dropped the menu back on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the air hissing as it slipped through his lips. He heard light footsteps tapping on the floor, getting louder as they got closer. Finally, they stopped right beside him. But he didn't look up._

_The woman beside him cleared her throat, asking if she could get him anything. He laughed internally._

Sure,_ he thought._ Can you bring my brother back?

_But he knew that that was an inappropriate question to ask a complete stranger. After a moment's hesitation, he looked up, and was almost taken aback._

_Almost being the keyword, however. Nothing ever surprised him._

That's not exactly true, now, is it? You were surprised to come home and find that poor little boy, that little boy that you _loved_, was dead. That surprised you.

_The man winced, hating himself. But he quickly passed it, gaining his composure, and looking back into the redhead's bright green eyes. He implied that there were a lot of things he'd love to get from her, but that at the moment, all he wanted was a coffee. Black, he added, in a tone not at all kind. He was in the mood for something as bitter as he felt._

_The woman bit her lip, and then turned on her heel, hurrying off before he could say something that would make her regret walking up to him._

_He smirked, even though his mood didn't call for any emotion brighter than a scowl. It cheered him up to take a little bit of that self loathing out on someone else._

_A buzzing in his pocket almost made him jump, but he recovered before anyone could see how on edge he was. His ring tone was turned all the way up, and the other people dining in the small restaurant glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, trying to ignore the eyes on him, and flipped the screen. It was a text from her, for the seventh time._

Come on. You're not the only one hurting, here. Come home, let's talk.

_He rolled his eyes and closed the screen, shoving it back into his pocket just as the blonde waitress with the big blue eyes leaned over the table, obviously making a show of her cleavage._

_She said something that was questionable about her morality, but he didn't turn her down. Instead he stood, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She hollered towards the counter, saying she was taking her lunch break. As they walked out the door, he glanced over his shoulder, his eyes meeting those green ones. The girl was standing there, coffee mug in hand, mouth slightly ajar, with a faint blush on her cheeks. He squinted his eyes at her, as if trying to read what she was thinking. He knew that wouldn't happen, so he turned without a word and let the door close with a bang behind them._

**I know, it's really short. But they will get longer, I just felt like I had to stop there, considering it's 7:34 in the morning, and I've been up for about eighteen hours straight. So, tell me if it's good, or if it's a bunch of gibberish that makes absolutely no sense at all. Thank you. (:**

**Review, it makes cupcakes appear.**


End file.
